Door holding device



Sept. 14, 1937. EAMQN 7 2,093,039

DOOR HOLDING DEVICE;

awe/Mon Gerald A. Eamon Patented Sept. 14, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,093,039 noon HOLDING DEVICE Gerald A. Eamon, Seattle, Wash.

Application October 4, 1935, Serial No. 43,517

6 Claims.

My invention relates to door holding devices,

and in particular to such a device which will often difiicult to obtain proper ventilation in a.

stateroom, and particularly so if the stateroom is in the center of the ship or below deck so 1"0 that it has no window or porthole communicating with the exterior of the vessel. Heretofore the holding device has generally taken the form of a heavy brass hook secured to the door which could be hooked into an eye on the door casing 15' or jamb.

These conventional hooks have certain very decided drawbacks. In order that they maybe engaged and disengaged easily it is essential that the hook fit loosely in its eye, and that the in- 20 terlocked eyes upon the base of the hook and its mounting be loosely engaged. As a result, when the hook is engaged in the eye on the door casing, any slight breeze or motion of the vessel tending to move the door rattles the hook in 25 the eye and also the hooks eye mounting. This rattling, little noticed during the activity of the day, becomes very annoying in the quiet of the night, at which time, of course, the device is ordinarily in use. Thus the sleep of the state- 3 room occupants is disturbed by this irritating noise. If'the device is not used, proper ventilation usually can not be obtained, and. fresh air circulation is, of course, essential for refreshing s eep.

o5 Furthermore, when the conventional hooks are not 'in use, but are hanging downward in inoperative position, every movement of the door when it is being opened or closed, or'when the ship rolls, causes the hook to swing. By such 40 movement the hook continually scratches the door, and soon anarcuate groove has been out which greatly detracts from the appearance of shadow, and is in decided contrast to the rest of the ships appointments,- which ordinarily 45 arekept in meticulous order.

- 'It is therefore a principal'object of my invention to provide a device for'holding a door ajar, the parts of which are so interconnected or interengaged'that, when in holdingposition, every part is held from movement with respect to every otherpart' andhence cannot rattle or knock against each other.

A' further object isto provide such means which will be held securely in an inoperative po- 5 sltionwhennot in use, and whichtherefore cannot rattle when in this position, and will not scratch or otherwise mar the door or casing.

It is also an object to provide a device of this character which can easily and quickly be enaged in operative position, or disengaged from operative position, but which neverthelesswill be held securely when placed in operative position, and in turn will hold the door against all movement.

These objects and others inherent in the vari- 1.0 ous novel features of my device, the shape of the parts and the arrangement thereof, and particularly the advantages arising from the simplicity of construction employed, enabling my device to v be manufactured very inexpensively, will appear from a study of the following specification.

My invention, as shown in the drawing, described in the specification, and more particularly as defined in the claims, involves the novel features illustrated in the preferred form of my device disclosed. It will be evident that various changes may be made, especially those which may be required to adapt my device to particular installations, without departing from the spirit of my disclosure.

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of part of a door, showing my device secured thereto and disposed in inoperative position, parts thereof being broken away.

Figure 2 is a plan view of my device in oper- 3o ative position, showing parts thereof in section.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate in plan and elevation, respectively, a modified form of one portion of my device.

The purpose of my device is to space a door D definitely from a casing or jamb C, so that the former can move neither towards nor from the casing when the device is in operative position.

It will be seen that a spacer member of some type is required to preserve .this relation, and it will be evident that'such a spacer member may be secured either to the door or to the door casing, which term is intended to include the door jamb.

In the preferred form of my device I have 5 found it most convenient to secure the spacer member to the door, for example by the mounting I. This mounting is preferably constructed in one piece, being provided with integral ears I B and l l projecting outward from the door in parallel planes normal tothe door. These ears are apertured to act as pivot journals for a rod 20 which is integral with the spacer bar 2. In the embodiment illustrated this pivot rod is formed by bending the supported end of the 5 spacer bar at right angles to its body portion. Obviously the rod 20 and spacer bar 2 might be constructed as separate parts secured together to form an integral body. Any suitable means, such as the nut 2|, may be provided to secure the rod 20 in its mounting, and play of the rod is prevented by engagement of the nut 2| with the ear IE! and of the spacer bar 2 with the ear I I.

Since in the embodiment shown the spacer bar has been mounted upon the door, the holding member for its free end is secured to the door casing C. This holding bracket or keeper may take the form of a U-shaped socket 3, provided with an aperture 39. The end of the spacer bar 2 is formed at 22 complemental to the aperture 30 for wedging engagement therewith. Any type of wedging surfaces might be employed, but I prefer that the bar tip and the aperture form in effect a ball and socket engagement. For this purpose the tip of the spacer bar may be merely rounded off, though a more secure engagement is obtained if a tapering knob is formed thereon for engagement in the aperture 39.

As an alternative form of wedging engagement, also having ball and socket characteristics, I may employ elements of the type shown in Figures 3 and 4. In this form a hooked bracket 32 is secured to the door casing, with its free end bent back to face the casing. The tip 33 of the hook now becomes the wedging member to engage an apertured element, such as the ring 23, on the end of the spacer bar 2. Again any type of wedging engagement desired may be employed, although I prefer the tip of the hook to be enlarged in the form of a knob for engaging in the circular aperture of the ring 23 with a ball and socket engagement.

An important feature to be noted is that when the spacer bar is in operative position, with the complemental wedging members engaged, the plane of the apertured member, 36 in Figure 2 and 23 in Figure 3, which fixes the position of the wedging or ball and socket engagement, is disposed in a plane substantially parallel to or coplanar with the spacer bar 2. Of necessity, of course, the wedging member or knob, complemental to and cooperating with the aperture, is then disposed substantially normal to the plane of the aperture and likewise to the spacer bar 2.

In order that the wedging or ball and socket members may be kept from rattling, and may retain the spacer bar 2 fixed in position, some means must be employed for urging such member into its cooperating engagement. For this purpose I have found it convenient'to employ a spring l2 coiled about the pivot rod 25, and bearing against the mounting I to react therefrom. The end of the spring remote from that which bears against the mounting acts upon the spacer bar 2, such as through the pin I 3. It will be seen that this spring has two functions. Primarily it reacts between the mounting l and the pin l3 to swing the spacer bar 2 in a plane substantially normal to the doorfor continuously urging together the wedging and apertured or ball and socket members. There is thus no danger of these being unintentionally disengaged. Upon intentional disconnection thereof, however, the spring l2 continues to urge the spacer bar to swing in an arc until it engages means such as a stop 4, Where it is held securely in inoperative position by the spring until it is desired to be again placed in operative position.

A secondary function of the spring I2 is to keep the parts I and 20 from lateral relative movement, thus obviating any rattling in the spacer bar mounting. Pressure of the mounting engaged spring end upon the mounting I will force the pivot rod 20 outward in Figure 1, or to the left in Figure 2, thereby removing any play between this pivot rod and the ears I0 and II. All the parts are thus held against movement which could cause an irritating knocking or rattling sound.

So that the spacer bar holder or keeper 3 will not project outward any farther than necessary I may provide a cooperating countersunk channel member 3 I, which will afford sufficient clearance to enable the curved tip 22 of the spacer bar to be inserted into the aperture 30.

For installations of various types certain modified forms of my device may be preferable, all within the scope of my invention. For example,

a as pointed out, the spacer bar might be mounted upon the door casing and the keeper or holding member secured to the door. Similarly, instead of the spacer bar 2 swinging in a horizontal plane normal to the plane of the door it may be preferable to have it swing in a vertical plane to engage a laterally projecting apertured plate instead .offone such as employed in the keeper 3, which is' disposed in position parallel to the casingland spaced therefrom. The principles of my-invention, therefore, are not in-' tended to be restricted tothe particularembodiment shown.

Any suitable casing may be employed to give my device a neat'and pleasing appearance. To this end I have shown the curved casing I4 secured upon the mounting l and covering the ivot rod 29, pin I3 and spring l2.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising a spacer bar having formed on one end a ring disposed in a plane parallel to the body of said bar, a mounting secured to a door and supporting the other end of said spacer bar, member secured by one end to the door casing, its free end being rounded and of a size to seat upon but incapable of passing through'said spacer bar ring, and the free end of such member being disposed substantially parallel to the door when said member and said ring are in engagement, and means urging said spacer bar to maintain said holding member and ring in engagement.

2. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising, in combination, a mounting secured to the door in vertical position, and having two apertured ears integral therewith and extending outwardly therefrom in spaced parallel relation, one from the top and the other from the bottom, a one-piece spacer rod, having one end thereof bent at right angles to its body and extending from beneath the lower mounting ear upward through both apertured ears of said mounting, to support the said bent rod end in cantilever fashion fromthe door, for swinging of the rod body in a horizontal plane, a knob on the upper end of said bent rod end engageable with the upper side of the upper mounting ear tolimit downward movement of the bent rod end received in said mounting, said rod having its other end bent at right angles to its body and at right angles to the rods first bent end, a ball formed on the rods second bent end, a bracket having an aperture therein of a size smaller than said ball and secured to the door jamb with its apertured portion disposed in a vertical plane parallel to and spaced from the door jamb, to receive said ball between the bracket aperture and the door I is jamb, for seating in such bracket aperture to constitute a ball-and-socket engagement, a pin piercing that portion of said first bent rod end disposed between the mounting ears, and a spring surrounding said first bent rod end between the mounting ears, and reacting between said pin and said mounting to hold the rod and mounting at all times in nonrattling relation, and to urge the said ball normally into nonrattling contact with the door, and, when engaged with said bracket, into nonrattling contact therewith.

3. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising, in combination, a mounting secured to the door in vertical position, and having two apertured ears integral therewith and extending outwardly therefrom in spaced parallel relation, one from the top and the other from the bottom, a one-piece spacer rod, having one end thereof bent at right angles to its body and extending from beneath the lower mounting ear upward through both apertured ears of said mounting, to support the said bent rod end in cantilever fashion from the door, for swinging of the rod body in a horizontal plane, a knob on the upper end of said bent rod end engageable with the upper side of the upper mounting ear to limit downward movement of the bent rod end received in said mounting, a bracket secured to the door jamb, the other end of said rod and said bracket being complementally formed to contact in a ball-and-socket engagement, a pin piercing that portion of said bent rod end received between the mounting ears, and a spring surrounding said bent rod end between the mounting ears, and reacting between said pin and said mounting to hold the rod and mounting at all times in nonrattling relation, and to press the bracket-contacting rod end normally past said bracket and to hold it in nonrattling contact with the door, and, when engaged with said bracket, to press it into nonrattling contact therewith.

4. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising, in combination, a mounting having two apertured ears integral therewith extending outward, one from each end, in spaced parallel relation, a one-piece spacer rod, having one end thereof bent at right angles to its body and extending from the outer face of one mounting ear through both apertured ears of said mounting, to pivotally support the said bent rod end in cantilever fashion, a bracket, the other end of said rod and said bracket being complementally formed to contact in a ball-and-socket engagement, a pin piercing that portion of said bent rod end received between the mounting ears, and a spring surrounding said bent rod end between the mounting ears, and reacting between said pin and said mounting to hold the rod and mounting at all times in nonrattling relation, and to press the bracket-contacting rod end normally past said bracket and to hold it in nonrattling inoperative position, and, when engaged with said bracket, to press it into nonrattling contact therewith.

5. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising a pivot support secured to a door, a spacer rod supported by one end bysaid pivotal support to swing in a substantially horizontal plane, and having its other end bent at an angle to its body and formed of ball-shaped conformation, a bracket having a circular aperture therein of a diameter less than the maximum diameter of said ball-shaped rod end, to constitute a seat for such rod end in the formation of a ball-andsocket engagement irrespective of the precise relative positions of the body of said rod and said bracket, and said bracket being secured to the door jamb with the aperture therein disposed in a vertical plane parallel to and spaced from the door jamb, to receive said ball-shaped rod end between the jamb and the bracket aperture for seating in the latter, and spring means reacting from said pivotal support to press said rod continually in a direction to hold the ballshaped rod end normally in nonrattling contact with the door, and, when engaged with said bracket, into nonrattling contact therewith.

6. An anti-rattling device to hold a door ajar, comprising a pivot support secured to a door, a spacer rod supported by one end by said pivotal support to swing in a substantially horizontal plane, and having upon its other end a circular eye disposed in a plane parallel to the rod body, a bracket having a ball-shaped free end of a diameter greater than the minimum diameter of said ring aperture, to seat in said ring in a balland-socket engagement irrespective of the precise relative positions of the body of said rod and said bracket, and said bracket being secured to the door jamb with its free end generally facing and spaced from the door jamb, to receive said rod ring between the jamb and the free bracket end to seat on the latter, and spring means reacting from said pivotal support to press said rod continually in a direction to hold the rod ring normally in nonrattling contact with the door, and, when engaged with said bracket, into nonrattling contact therewith.

GERALD A. EAMON. 

